I don’t think that’s a standard-issue tripod – more like something built for an 8-foot-tall surveyor. Also, note the feed strip box on the ground below the gunner.
Vintage Saturday: French AA Gunners with a 1907 St Etienne
Select-fire Rifles
French Trials VHS-F2 Croatian Bullpup
HS Produkt of Croatia makes an interesting modern bullpup rifle, the VHS. The rifle has gone through several major design iterations in the past two decades or so, and the most recent version (the VHS-2) […]
Semiauto Rifles
France’s Ultimate WW1 Selfloading Rifle: The RSC-1918
The French RSC-1917 semiauto rifle was a major step forward in arms technology during World War One, offering a reliable and effective self-loading rifle for issue to squad leaders, expert marksmen, and other particularly […]
Semiauto Rifles
Slow Motion: MAS 49/56
The MAS 49/56 is a much under-rated rifle here in the US – it is extremely simple, durable, and reliable, while being shorter and lighter than it’s US contemporary, the M14.
It is not too surprising to see such a set-up for high-angle AA fire against low-flying aircraft — after all, necessity is the mother of invention, and there were many such improvised mounts devised for light AA applications in the field during WWI and WWII.
A case in point is the method developed by German Army units on the Eastern Front to address low-level attacks by IL-2 Sturmoviks and the like. The assistant gunner of an MG-34 or MG-42 GPMG team would support the weapon across the back of his shoulders at the point where the bipod was attached while the gunner traversed and fired the weapon. Very noisy and not a little disconcerting for the AG, to say the least, but nevertheless fairly effective against enemy aircraft when used en masse.
It may come as a surprise for many otherwise in the know, but this method of improvised AA defence was taught to the soldiers of more than one modern army during the period from after the Second World War through the 1990’s and later. I distinctly remember practising this procedure on more than one occasion with an FN MAG58 7.62mm GPMG during the late 1970’s.
Many of the losses among USAF, USN, AFRVN and ARVN aircraft and helicopters during low-level COIN operations during the Vietnam War could probably be attributed to this technique of last-ditch AA defence.
Your final paragaph: “The golden BB”.